Mathews couple builds solar-powered home

Beth and Chris Bond have incorporated many energy-saving features into their new home, including energy-saving windows and doors. Photo by Sherry Hamilton

The Garden Creek home of Beth Bond, pictured, and her husband, Chris, has an inverter to transform the energy generated by rooftop solar panels into usable electricity. Photo by Sherry Hamilton

A Mathews couple chose solar power for their new home in the Garden Creek area, and they’re waiting to see what kind of difference the choice will make in their electric bills.

Beth and Chris Bond had planned to make some improvements to their old farmhouse that would make it safer, more energy efficient, and more comfortable. But after looking into the costs, they realized they could spend a lot of money and still not end up with what they really wanted, so they decided to demolish the building and start from scratch.

"We wanted to be responsible in the decisions we made, especially with regard to power usage," said Beth Bond.

The Bonds built a 1,300-square-foot cottage with energy efficiency incorporated into every aspect, from extra insulation to Energy Star doors, windows and appliances and a high efficiency heat pump.

The fireplace, tankless water heater, and kitchen range they chose operate off propane gas, said Beth Bond, but everything else in the house runs off a bank of 20 solar panels installed on the south side of the roof of the house.

Solar panels aren’t cheap, but Bond said they were banking on the investment eventually paying for itself and, along the way, allowing the new home to create its own electricity.

The panels produce approximately 4.7 kilowatts per hour of electricity during daylight hours, said Bond. Because storage batteries are expensive, the couple hasn’t bought any yet, so they have to rely on electricity from the power grid at night. However, an independent company keeps track of how much extra electricity is generated during the day, and it will sell that electricity back to Virginia Power so the Bonds can get credit for it.